The Perfect Man
by Babelvr54
Summary: Stephanie asks Ranger to look into the man she's been dating. Ranger is pissed that she isn't trying to convince him to have a relationship with him. Babe HEA. Jealous Ranger.
1. 1 Let's Have A Talk

I need to talk to you. Six of the most terrifying words in the English language when strung together in a sentence. Ricardo Carlos Manoso could only think of one thing Stephanie Plum could want to talk about to him and he really wasn't ready for that conversation. Maybe in a couple years, _someday_ , NOT today.

His palms were clammy and cold just thinking about that conversation. He loved his Babe, and had been _in love_ with her for years, but he didn't think he could provide her with the lifestyle that she needed. He had long decided to be the spectator in her life, intervening when necessary at his own discretion. Though lately she was needing him less often, and that made him feel something he couldn't name. She had started a PI business and was thriving at it with her excellent 'spidey senses', her variety of contacts and her easy face and trustworthy personality. People liked talking to her and she was finally using that skill to her advantage.

They met for lunch weekly, but it had a level of professionalism to it as she handled the high profile Rangeman cases. It seemed that they were somehow drifting apart. Ranger didn't know how to save their friendship but still keep that necessary distance from her. It was getting difficult to think of reasons why he should stay away from her.

He picked away at his pasta salad as he tried to figure out a way to get out of this _talk_ unscathed. Avoiding her was… well it's _unavoidable._

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Stephanie Plum walked into the Rangeman building wearing a plum dress that was flirty, conservative and did things for her figure. She knew exactly what she was walking into. She needed to be very careful with how she behaved or everything would fall apart.

With confidence and grace she didn't know she had, she walked into the elevator after a finger wave at the cameras. She didn't even have to bother pressing the button as the elevator lurched up to seven. Lester was probably manning the control room.

Ranger was waiting for her as she stepped off the elevator. He pulled her in for a brief hug, but seemed to be holding on to her. Having known the man for a few years now, she knew that he was anxious despite his relaxed demeanour. He led her into the apartment with a hand at her back. There was a beautiful chocolate cake waiting there with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Anxious to get through this as quickly as possible, Ranger pushed a piece of chocolate cake at her and started talking as soon as she had a mouthful of cake.

"Look Babe, before anything goes any further, I'd like to say that my stance on relationships hasn't changed." A part of him hoped that she would challenge his stance, get rid of all his objections and force him into changing his attitude on relationships. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as something to be analysed at a later date, with some strong alcohol.

She smiled as she swallowed her cake. Ranger at this point was a little bit confused, shouldn't she be heartbroken? Crying?

"Oh Ranger! Is that what you thought this was about? Well, I'm glad you haven't suddenly changed your mind" she laughed.

 _Okay, so she's glad now? She's glad I haven't changed my mind? Shouldn't she be trying to change my mind? Is this some of that reverse psychology bullshit? Is she trying to make me change my mind by not trying to make me change my mind?_

"Okay. So what _is_ this about? Do you have a stalker? Are you sick?" He was just snowballing at this point. She didn't look sick, and since she wasn't a part of takedowns or doing bounty hunting anymore, her chances of attracting a stalker had been drastically reduced.

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"Actually, I need a favour. I don't want Rangeman involved, I want you to look this over personally." She stopped for a breath. The intensity with which Ranger was staring at her made her a little bit nervous about his reaction.

"I have been on a two dates with a man named Dr. Matthew Ward. I really like him, but considering my history with men I wanted you to run search on him to make sure there aren't any major character flaws. I would like to have an all clear before I get invested in this relationship."

Ranger was stunned. Where was the reckless woman he'd met three years ago? The one who never worried about her own safety. She was taking all the right precautions, she was growing up and with this man in her life (assuming he couldn't find a fatal flaw with him) she'd need him even less. What would he do then? He tried to push the thought away but it was pesky and wouldn't budge. Here she was supposed to be convincing him to change his stance on relationships, but instead he'd been effectively friend-zoned. He'd never been friend-zoned before so he wasn't familiar with the territory, but he really didn't like it there.

"I am glad you are taking you safety seriously. I will look into him. Though I have to ask, why aren't you looking into him yourself?"

"Thank you Ranger! I'm not looking into him myself because I have a good feeling about him and I'm hoping he'll pass muster… I don't want to encroach his privacy. I want this relationship to progress naturally without either of us having the high ground. You are my best friend and I don't want anyone else digging into my business."

He'd dig alright. There must be something the bastard has done. He can't potentially be perfect, no one is.

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A/N: I'll have this story finished in the next couple of weeks. What do you think of Ranger's reaction? Also, how hot do you want Dr. Matthew Ward to be?


	2. 2 Competition

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After his Babe left, Ranger finished the rest of the chocolate cake. He paced around the apartment for a bit. Got a little drunk and generally behaved like a beast. Tonight had not gone like he'd expected. He knew he had no right to be jealous or angry, he'd had plenty of opportunities to court her and make her fall in love with him. _She wouldn't need to have him investigated,_ he thought petulantly.

About two hours into his pity party, Ranger brushed himself off and decided to look into the asshole trying to get with _his_ Babe. He knew she wasn't going to wait around for him forever, and he knew he'd been a little selfish hoping that she would, but looking at the search results, he knew his time was running out.

The man was goddamn perfect. He was a medical researcher for melanoma, had studied at Princeton. His mother was an American, father was British (with a Welsh background) with a Royal fucking connection. They were happily married for 55 years and continuing. Dr. Wade it seems was a widower, he'd met his wife in college, gotten married after they both graduated. She died of melanoma, so he quit practicing medicine and decided to dedicate his life into researching the disease. He donated to a charity that helped abused children and even volunteered hours there. The cherry on top was that he was good looking, and looked fairly fit. He was the epitome of the guys Steph was usually attracted to.

There had to be something there… he'd talk to his contacts on the street to look into him more. There's only so much that can be found on paper. No one is this good. Except his Babe… but he wasn't about to lose her to this moron. Bet he didn't even own a gun. What would he do if someone tried to hurt Stephanie? Give them a full medical check-up?

After a few more drinks, Ranger lay down on his bed. Hoping he'd wake up from this nightmare and maybe travel back in time before his Babe met this man so that he's be able to convince her to have a relationship with him. He then began to wonder when he changed his stance on relationship and how the tables had turned on him so spectacularly. He passed out dreaming of the things he'd wanted to do with his Babe.

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Stephanie knew that Ranger would drive himself crazy over Matthew. To be honest Matthew was pretty perfect, and to top it all off, he was safe and reliable. She had met him at a consultation to get a patch of skin tested. The results were thankfully negative, but in the process they had bonded and become fast friends.

He was a widower, but somehow life hadn't rusted him out. He found some positivity in everything and frankly it was refreshing after having been with men who were always a bit pessimistic about the world.

She had told Matthew everything about her past relationships, and he had added his two cents and explained to her that Ranger would either get his act together soon, or she would be doomed to wait for him forever. So, he'd told her that if Ranger didn't get his act together in the next two months, she'd be fair game for him. Then she'd have to give him a serious chance at a relationship.

A part of Stephanie felt as though she was manipulating Ranger into a relationship with her, but a larger part of her just wanted him to either step up or ship off. Any guilt she had been feeling evaporated when he started talking about his stance on relationships. She couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Ranger's face when she told him that she was glad that he hadn't changed his stance on relationships. Anyone who didn't know him would think him apathetic, but she had made a study in the expressions of Ricardo Carlos Manoso and she knew every twitch, every muscle and every contraction on his face. He didn't want a relationship with her, but he was pissed that _she_ didn't care for a relationship with him. What an asshole. Maybe she was better off with Matthew.

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On the other side of town, Ranger was calling every contact he knew to find out everything he could about Dr. Wade. Even the most snivelling snitch spoke highly of him. The man sounded like God himself had descended on this earth to bless everyone with his presence. There was nothing on him. He didn't even have an outstanding parking ticket. He'd been to jury duty twice! Twice!

At this rate he was going to lose all his hair by the end of the day. There was nothing wrong with the man. He lived in a modest house (which he owned), kept regular hours, spent time with his parents, volunteered at the charity and went to the gym three days a week. His only downfall was that he was boring. He had to be. Considering the level of excitement Stephanie was used to, this man boredom encompassed. He'd just have to remind his Babe of all the excitement she was used to.

He tried not to think about how slowly she was settling her life down, first by changing from Bounty hunting to PI, then moving from her crappy apartment to a suburban house with a backyard, then by beginning to date a man that seemed ready to settle down. Nope, he wouldn't think about any of that.

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. So now we all know that Ranger has some serious competition. How should Ranger try to excite his babe? Will he succeed? Also, I have limited access to wifi right now so the next update will be next week sometime.


	3. 3 Two sides of a coin

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Now Ranger wasn't ready to settle down, but at the same time he really did love his Babe. He was afraid that if he did give in and have a relationship, he'd inevitably screw up and loose his Babe forever and that really was unacceptable. His lifestyle may seem exciting from a distance but he knew the reality. Most of the men in this lifestyle couldn't hold onto their women because the extreme danger that always followed.

He scrambled to think of a way to hold onto his Babe without showing her the reality of his life. What he didn't think about was that she already knew the reality of his life. He wouldn't be able to throw money around to gain her favour. She wouldn't be impressed by that.

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Dr. Matthew Wade had found a hidden gem in Stephanie Plum. She was a wonderful, sexy, beautiful woman and he was surprised that no one had snapped her up. As they had started talking he'd realised that the men in her life were absolute morons. She deserved better. He had only been with one woman all his life, and when she passed away he felt as though there was no meaning in his life.

He had been close to giving up on his life the day he met Stephanie Plum, being a doctor had its advantages – he knew exactly what would give him a quick, painless death. He had been looking for a sign, a sign that he should go on. That's when she walked in, concerned about a patch of her skin. Even though she had been stressed, she gave him a sparkling smile that made his heart stop. He tried to dismiss the feeling, but he knew it was a lost cause when she started speaking. Her wit, her humour endeared her to him instantly. He went home that night with a real smile on his face and contentment in his heart. He had always been kind to everyone in his life, trying to look after everyone, but that day it felt as though life was being kind to him.

It is surprising what a smile can hide. Every morning he'd put on a nice bright smile on his face and greet everyone, inside he'd been a broken mess, barely holding together. Matthew always wondered how no one saw past his façade; didn't they care?

Matthew put in a bit of weight so that Stephanie could have her results back as soon as could be possible. Within a week he was relieved to know that her test came back negative. Seeing her cry in relief made him want to take her into his arms. Before he knew it, he had. She hadn't stepped back when he'd put his arms around her.

He didn't have the courage to look into her eyes at that point, so he'd asked her out to lunch, mumbling the question in her hair. She'd nodded her consent and he'd led her out of his office and into a small café next door. They'd started talking and eventually she told him everything about her life, from her first husband to her 'mentor' in bounty hunting. He told her about his wife and found himself opening up about everything he went through during her sickness and after her death, and almost giving up on life. They had lunch every day since.

Ranger was going to have one hell of a competition.

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Having spent the day in his office, Ranger had been putting out small fires all morning. First, the control room monitors had a glitch and completely shut down, meaning that laptops had to be pulled out of storage and the whole set up had to be transferred to a conference room. He had to dispatch men to all the premises to ensure everything was okay. Not only did this give him a headache, but it also increased his paperwork.

Finally having finished all the paperwork, he leaned back and took a deep breath. He had to act quickly because he really wasn't ready to lose his Babe yet. He googled 'how to keep someone in your life' but that opened a whole can of worms about abusive relationships, so he tried 'how to keep a girl interested' and it came up with the usual – respect, mystery, regular phones calls and dinners. Just the usual generic stuff. They already did have lunch once every week, he needed to do something more solid and he needed to do it without her knowledge. It needed to be smooth enough that she wouldn't realise what was going on until it was too late, and by then she'd be irrevocably in love with him and wouldn't leave him even though his life is stressful on anyone wanting to share it.

He ignored the fact that he'd pretty much given into his Babe and now he was the one chasing her instead of it being the other way around.

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A few months ago, Stephanie had decided that she wanted to be in a relationship with Ricardo Carlos Manoso. The problem was the man himself, he was stuck on his ideals and no matter how much she'd tried, he wouldn't stretch past them.

She knew that he loved her and he loved her well. No man would be crazy enough to spend that much time, money and blood after a woman unless he was desperately in love with her. After trying and failing to get him to relent, she'd eventually just accepted it and decided to move on. It was harder than she'd expected. Then she'd felt an ember of hope when she saw his expression as she told him about Matthew, but having spent a bit of time thinking about it, she realised that she was back to where she started. Back when she'd been dating Joe, it had been the same thing, anytime there was competition, he'd be interested, but once that competition went away, he'd go back to keeping his distance. Maybe Matthew was right… maybe she did need to move on.

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A/N: Thank you for your patience : ) It's not going to be easy for our Ranger to win his Babe this time.


	4. 4 Friends

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Stephanie had been thinking hard about her relationship with Ranger and to be honest, she didn't really like what she saw. They were together when it suited him, sure he was her mentor in the beginning and yes – he lead a difficult life, but so did millions of men around the world. His problem wasn't unique. She was tired of fighting him, fighting the Burg, fighting her mother. She didn't want to run away from her problems because she knew that they would only follow her and then haunt her somewhere in the future.

Thinking about her mother made her inspect her life further. She had started bounty hunting to pay her bills. She had to do that because she choose the wrong man to get married to just because she wanted to please her mother and the Burg. Her mother might have tried to make a lady out of Stephanie, but she never forced her to marry Dickie, that was her own choice. In getting married she had been stupid and didn't protect her assets. She was a business school graduate for God's sake! After starting bounty hunting, whenever she did earn a decent paycheque, she'd spend recklessly on things she didn't need and then end up at square one the next month. She hadn't had any investments or assets, all she accumulated was garbage.

Next, she was completely dependent on the generosity of her parents for food every week. No wonder her mother had always been worried about her and tried to find her any decent man she could so she would have someone to look after her. She couldn't blame her for not having any faith her since she didn't show any evidence of being a mature adult.

She wanted a clean break. There had to be a way to atone for her sins. She wanted to have a better relationship with her parents and her sister. She wanted to make sure her business would succeed and that she would never need to put her own life in danger to earn money. She wanted to eventually have children and she wanted their father to have time for them.

She wrote down everything she wanted to do and took a deep breath and added 'cooking and baking' to the list. Might as well have a long healthy life. She took another deep breath and added 'self-defence' to the list. This would do for now.

Time to get started on the first thing on the list, she thought as she called her mother.

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Ranger had been unable to come up with anything exciting he could do with his Babe, so he decided that simplicity was the best way out of this mess. He downloaded the Facebook messenger app onto his phone, he'd seen Lester and Babe constantly chatting with each other during every staff meeting he'd ever held with Stephanie present.

He was already 'friends' with her on Facebook, but they never really 'chatted' so now was as good a time as any. Whilst he was a social recluse, Stephanie had updates about her life almost every day. With her, Lester and Tank (surprisingly) on his friends list, he had to turn off the announcements on his phone or risk being bombarded with cute cat pictures, status updates and 'memes' all day.

He decided to send her a 'wave' on the messenger app and waited to see if she'd reply. Twenty minutes later he had a 'wave back'. He smiled. The game was afoot.

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Dr. Ward knew that he would need to tread carefully. He had done some research on Ricardo Carlos Manoso and whilst the man was impressive, he was also dangerous. A part of him was afraid that 'Ranger', honestly who calls _himself_ that, might get frustrated and hire a hitman or something. Other than that, he was pretty confident in his ability to wine and dine his Angel away from the 'Ranger'.

It had been a long time since he'd been this excited about anyone. In his mind he'd already planned their wedding and was currently working on the honeymoon – Bali is too mainstream, Dubai was a bit too superficial… maybe Sabah in Malaysian Borneo? He'd always wanted to go diving there. Plus they had plenty of beaches, wildlife, and a coral reef. He wanted to see the reef before global warming, water pollution and coral bleaching destroyed it.

He pulled into the driveway of her home with a large cheese and pineapple pizza, which happened to be something of a favourite between them. Opening the door to her house he saw that she was busy writing something that looked like a list. He saw what she had written and felt something akin to pride fill him up. Self-reflection is an important part of an evolving character. If you refuse to look at your mistakes, how do you expect yourself to learn from them and succeed?

Stephanie looked up to see him standing there with the pizza and a bright smile lit her face. Stowing away the notepad for now, she reached for the box of pizza and they both happily dug in.

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A/N: Sorry this chapter took a while, want to stay true to the characters but there are several different directions I can take this story and it kept confusing my writing. I apologise for any grammatical errors. It's still early to tell but overall do you guys want Ranger to get the girl or do we want the hot, sensitive doctor to get the girl?


	5. 5 Rabbit Food

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In the past two months, Stephanie had really grown as a person. She, Hector and Matthew had decided to learn about the share market, they did intensive research and decided which companies they wanted for their Portfolio. They dedicated an entire room where the three of them would have all their paperwork. They even bought a whiteboard for when the discussions became intensive.

Her relationship with her mother had steadily improved and now they met for brunch at a local café every Saturday. Her father had picked commandeered his own project of fixing her up with a new deck. She hadn't seen him this excited for years, so decided to let him have free reign. She gave him a card to charge all the materials to so he wouldn't dip into his own savings and he looked as though the heavens had opened up to him.

Her business now actually had staff. She hired a recent business graduate and a retired detective from the police force. She now had high turnover with requests coming in from all across the country for her unique 'spidey sense'.

After having her epiphany two months ago, she had decided to give Ranger some space. She wanted to work on herself before bringing someone else into her life. In the past two months she truly realised how much Ranger had sacrificed to save her from all the trouble she usually got herself into. She decided it was high time she thanked him for all his efforts. This time she was going to chase him and she was going to catch him.

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Giving Ranger space for the past two months worked into Steph's favour because now Ranger was concerned that his Babe had truly moved on. They still had lunch once a week, but she was always seemed preoccupied with something or another. She didn't talk about Dr. Ward but he was always afraid that there was something more going on with them.

He was really proud of his Babe though, in the past two months, she had really improved all her relationships with her friends and family. Her business had really grown and her lifestyle had changed. She had changed – for the better.

Except sometimes it felt as though she'd left him behind.

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Stephanie messaged Ranger asking him if he was free for dinner tonight. Within a minute, her phone buzzed with a message 'at 7 on 7?' and she replied back with a smiley face and a thumbs up.

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Ranger was feeling a bit flustered, she wanted to have dinner with him. Something was going on… maybe she's moving in with that doctor and wanted to tell him, maybe she was moving _away_ , maybe she changed her mind and doesn't want me in her life at all… on and on his mind went, coming up with the most ridiculous arguments as to why she wanted to have dinner with him. All but one – maybe it's just dinner.

At seven, he heard the elevator ping, announcing her arrival. He checked himself in the mirror to make sure he looked alright and then raced to the door.

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SPOV

There he stood, the door framing his muscular physique, hair wet from his shower, a navy button-down shirt – unbuttoned, and black silk pyjama pants. And if the _growth_ was anything to go by, he was going commando. His Bulgari shower-gel was wreaking havoc on my senses. Damn, but the man looked hot. He knew exactly what he was doing too, his dark brown eyes turned to ebony as he looked me over.

He led me into the apartment with a hand on the small of my back. Ella had already dropped off our dinner. She had made a simple stir fry with chicken and chocolate mousse for dessert. We quietly ate dinner whilst chatting about generic stuff. It seemed as though Ranger was nervous about whatever topic I was about to bring up since he did everything in his power to avoid it. So I decided to rip off the metaphorical Band-Aid.

As he was anxiously cleaning up and packing away all the food, I broached the subject, "Ranger I want you to be the first to know, I want to become a vegetarian and I was wondering if you could help me learn how to cook for myself."

His relief was obvious as he turned around and grabbed me into a hug. He covered up his erratic behaviour by saying "I'm so proud of you! And yes, I'll help you, we can learn together. We can have dinner together twice a week with each other."

Bam! That's how it's done. This way we get to spend more time together and we do something constructive. I know that Ranger has always felt the need to be the protector and the provider, those are his outlets. Lately, with me learning to do everything by myself, he'd been feeling left out. I wanted to let him stew for a bit, and today, he'd have been open to pretty much anything, and had I been a different kind of person I could've really taken advantage of that knowledge. My poor Batman, I hug him tighter, he's so smart, and yet sometimes, he's so clueless.

We spent the rest of the night pretty much cuddling under the guise of looking at recipes. Ranger decided that he too would go vegetarian. I smiled and kissed his cheek and bid him goodnight.

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RPOV

I spent the rest of the night scouring the internet for vegetarian recipes. Babe and I decided that we would still have dairy. She couldn't live without her coffee and I don't like the taste of soy milk. It's just weird.

I was ecstatic that she wasn't leaving and in fact wanted to spend more time with me. I get to have dinner with her two nights each week! I even did a little happy dance that would rival my Babe's. Around midnight I finally fell asleep with this broad grin on my face.

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SPOV

In the next couple of weeks, everything went really fast. Ranger and I were really making progress on our respective diets and I for once in my life, was enjoying cooking. In fact, Ranger was almost always at home with me for dinner. For a man that's afraid of commitment, he's awfully committed.

Yesterday, I asked Hector to move into the house with me. Hector has already had a tough life and he's done so well in overcoming all of the obstacles that he's faced that I can't help but be proud of him. We had really grown closer in the past couple of months. He's like a big brother to me and I think he would be really happy living here with me. He was stunned for a solid minute before I saw slight glistening of tears in his eyes and he accepted by pulling me into a hug.

Plus, sometimes the house feels a bit too big and empty when there's no one around. I want to fill this house with life and laughter, and I know the exact place I can find a bunch of misfits to do exactly that.

Ranger and I are hosting the guys for dinner tomorrow. An all vegetarian dinner. I have never done so much chopping in my life. Ranger found an Indian book full of vegetarian recipes and we're going to try them all out tomorrow.

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A/N: I know it's been a while, but I never abandon my stories… I just take forever to update them. This is why I should stick to oneshots. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm really trying to keep this story light, but sometimes it gets away from me.

So, I have plans for Hector, can anyone guess what they are? ;)


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